BELOIT, Wis. — An auto dealer known across the Beloit and Rockford area has unexpectedly died.

Employees at Bryden Motors in Beloit confirmed the company’s owner, Roger Bryden, died last weekend. They said Bryden was fishing in Canada when he apparently had a heart attack. Bryden just celebrated 50 years with Bryden Motors last fall.

Bryden’s father started the dealership in the 1940s. Co-workers told WREX-13, the Register star’s media partner, that Bryden leaves behind a wife, two children and several grandchildren.

Bryden retired in May as a director of Beloit-based Blackhawk Bank and its holding company, Blackhawk Bancorp Inc.

Rick Bastian, chairman, president and CEO of the bank and holding company, said Tuesday that Bryden visited the main bank in Beloit daily to make deposits or loan payments.

“When Roger came into the lobby, it was almost a social event,” Bastian said. “He was on a first-name basis with the tellers, and they would ask for advice on how to buy a car.”

Bastian said the Great Recession was a difficult time for Chrysler and the Bryden dealership, which sells Chrysler products. Bryden’s take was that the business would not only survive, but thrive, Bastian said. “He fulfilled his promises,” Bastian said.

Bryden not only liked to fish, he liked to hunt and once showed Bastian a photo of himself with a bear he’d shot.

“He loved to be outdoors,” Bastian said.

With regard to Bryden’s bank duties, Bastian said Bryden adapted to using an iPad when the bank no longer printed copies of agendas and reports, instead providing access through the Internet.

“He said it was the darndest contraption he’d ever seen,” Bastian said. Even so, Bastian said, “he did his homework and read all the reports.”